Every major Honduran institution supported the
move, even members in Congress of his own political party, the Catholic
Church and the country's human rights ombudsman. To avoid violence the
Honduran military escorted Mr. Zelaya out of the country. In other
words, his removal from office was legal and constitutional, though his
ejection from the country gave the false appearance of an old-fashioned
Latin American coup.

[i]The U.S. has since come down solidly on the side of—Mr. Zelaya.
While it has supported negotiations and called for calm, President
Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have both insisted that
Honduras must ignore Mr. Zelaya's transgressi...

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Every major Honduran institution supported the
move, even members in Congress of his own political party, the Catholic
Church and the country's human rights ombudsman. To avoid violence the
Honduran military escorted Mr. Zelaya out of the country. In other
words, his removal from office was legal and constitutional, though his
ejection from the country gave the false appearance of an old-fashioned
Latin American coup.

The U.S. has since come down solidly on the side of—Mr. Zelaya.
While it has supported negotiations and called for calm, President
Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have both insisted that
Honduras must ignore Mr. Zelaya's transgressions and their own legal
processes and restore him as president. The U.S. has gone so far as to
cut off aid, threaten Honduran assets in the U.S. and pull visas to
enter the U.S. from the independent judiciary. The U.S. has even
threatened not to recognize presidential elections previously scheduled
for November unless Mr. Zelaya is first brought back to power—even
though he couldn't run again.

To say the U.S. Government's actions surrounding the
situation in Honduras is a travesty is an understatement. President
Obama, in his slavish admiration for the world's dictators, has turned
America's long held principal of support for self-determination on its
head.

The Honduran flag in the sidebar is obviously a small gesture, but it
is intended as support for not only the people of Honduras, but for the
greater principal of self-determination. President Obama would be well
advised to bear in mind, as he coddles dictators without regard to
American public opinion and tries to ram through his paternalistic
agenda, that Americans know full well the meaning of
self-determination.

Don't tread on us, and don't tread on our friends and allies.